1.5T Hobby-man's engine thread

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Some minor updates. My replacement glass and airbag have been sourced. The machine shop is nearly done with my block so hopefully we'll have that back tomorrow or Monday and be ready to assemble the engine early next week. I decided to do a couple extra bits while I'm in there.

Whiteline front sway bar as I have no plans to drop the subframe again.

Hasport 62A front motor mounts to complete the mount package. Best time to do it seems to me is when the engine is coming right out lol.

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As for your tech tip for today, we decided to use OEM headbolts instead of getting the ARP/MAP headstud and spacer kit.

The ARP kit says to torque to 60 ft-lbs.

The service manual says 30 ft-lbs followed by 2 (reused bolts) or 3 (new bolts) of 90⁰ increment tightening.

After talking to a couple engine builders (including Eman), 66 ft-lbs on new head bolts should be more than sufficient for up to 30 pounds of boost. We will also be using an OEM head gasket.

Stay tuned, hopefully we are almost ready to install everything!
 
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I was shocked when Andrew told me what happened, glad he got you sorted quickly!

That LSD looks awesome, can't wait to see it all done and get a ride with you to see how it all feels :)
As soon as I get it back I'll swing by the shop :)

Apparently in all their years of being there I am the first ever to have my car broken into lol. Lucky me!!
 

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As soon as I get it back I'll swing by the shop :)

Apparently in all their years of being there I am the first ever to have my car broken into lol. Lucky me!!
Sounds good!

Yeah, I believe that. I've had mine parked there overnight as well several times, and seen other dollar cars too. Nothing has happened with the amount of security cameras and traffic in the area, but someone decided that was their day to do it
 

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My plan is to get the base map to get the logs as soon as it's installed. I hope that's safe enough. I've seen people with the L15BA reach 300hp at the crank safely around here. So let's hope it goes well.

Yes, Id get Drob to e-tune it.
Is the L15BA in the Sport Hatchback and the L15B7 in the Si? Where can I find the stamp on my engine?
 


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Is the L15BA in the Sport Hatchback and the L15B7 in the Si? Where can I find the stamp on my engine?
I'ts marked in the block itself. I'd say the sport there in the US has the l15ba as well, from what I've read.
 
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Some small updates after many weeks of no movement. Next week will mark 5 months since my failure. Thankfully I've been mostly working from home until recently and we have two cars or I would have had to part out the car ages ago.

There have been a huge number of delays not limited to my car being broken into, supplier delays, COVID delays, and personal lives taking priority. The biggest setback was an accident at the machine shop which ended up nicking a coolant galley causing the block to not hold pressure when hot. They owned up to it and sourced a new short block and are working extremely slowly and carefully on this one. I'm told they have several other L15s in the pipeline now, mine being the first ever for them to do.

Fortunately the shop I'm working with had a spare L15B7 lying around waiting for machine shop work following mine. We are almost done temporarily swapping in that loner motor and hopefully can run the car like that until the machine shop is done with my custom block. There were a number of wiring troubles getting the B7 happy with the hatch ECU. I will hopefully have a positive update later this week.

On the parts front, I ultimately decided to skip using OEM headstuds and just decided to grab the MAPerformance ARP stud kit. I've seen a few too many lifted heads between the forum and my local car group, so I just want to do it right while we're in there.

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I feel your pain! My major repairs always put me back a few months.
 

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nice build. I am following as well and looking forward for the LSD impressions.
looking for advice: with my current tune + mods (TD03, downpipe+intercooler) i get 250Hp / 343 Nm. I was thinking to change the clutch with a ACT street one and further on to buys the same wavetrac LSD. Is it worthed for the power my car makes? I know is driveability that gets better but still. the part is not cheap :(
 


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nice build. I am following as well and looking forward for the LSD impressions.
looking for advice: with my current tune + mods (TD03, downpipe+intercooler) i get 250Hp / 343 Nm. I was thinking to change the clutch with a ACT street one and further on to buys the same wavetrac LSD. Is it worthed for the power my car makes? I know is driveability that gets better but still. the part is not cheap :(
Not OP but yes, having owned a LSD-equipped Si previously: it adds handling performance in spades. FWD cars benefit by being able to “rocket out” of sharp corners with an LSD generally, as well as reduce oversteer and squirrellyness. I will be swapping in an LSD as well for certain, I’m just deciding on when and which one
 

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you convinced me.I'll get both :)
 
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nice build. I am following as well and looking forward for the LSD impressions.
looking for advice: with my current tune + mods (TD03, downpipe+intercooler) i get 250Hp / 343 Nm. I was thinking to change the clutch with a ACT street one and further on to buys the same wavetrac LSD. Is it worthed for the power my car makes? I know is driveability that gets better but still. the part is not cheap :(
Not OP but yes, having owned a LSD-equipped Si previously: it adds handling performance in spades. FWD cars benefit by being able to “rocket out” of sharp corners with an LSD generally, as well as reduce oversteer and squirrellyness. I will be swapping in an LSD as well for certain, I’m just deciding on when and which one
I'll be sure to update with impressions etc. As things progress. But in general I can't see you going wrong with adding an LSD :) power is great, getting it to the ground is supreme though.
 

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I'll be sure to update with impressions etc. As things progress. But in general I can't see you going wrong with adding an LSD :) power is great, getting it to the ground is supreme though.
Especially with FWD, the ability to maintain composure under hard acceleration is king. Cant be a Mazdaspeed3 now, can we?
 
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Well everyone, a mixed emotion update. After 6 months I have my car back home, 95% returned to stock running a 2019 L15BA motor. I ultimately decided the cost and time commitment of building a fully clapped out hatch wasn't worth it to me, especially given the fragility of the transmission past ~330whp. The 1.5T wasn't the hill I wanted to die on. Not sure what my next move is, but right now I am happy to have a car and my part out continues. I drive a stock 2018 hatch for the time being.

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